Is there a Relative Age Effect in the Competition Total Scores and its Components of Junior Individual Rhythmic Gymnasts?

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 2986-2990
Author(s):  
Pinar Tatlibal ◽  
Emine Kutlay ◽  
Onur Oral

Background: Children born at the beginning of the year may be cognitively, emotionally, and physically more advantageous than those born at the end of the year. Aim: This study aims to determine whether there is a relative age effect (RAE) on the total scores and its components of the gymnasts in their routines, competing in the 1st Rhythmic Gymnastics Junior World Championships Individual All-Around Ranking-Apparatus Qualification in 2019. Methods: 138 gymnasts from 61 countries participated in this competition and 61 gymnasts competed in each apparatus. The total scores (TS) and its components in gymnasts' competition routines were analyzed according to gymnasts' age groups (13, 14, and 15 years old) and period of birth [Group I (those born in the first six months of the year), Group II (those born in the last six months of the year)]. Differences and percentages of change between the two periods were examined. A total of 732 scores (Difficulty, Execution, and Total Scores) were evaluated. Descriptive statistics and the One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Test analysis were used for statistical evaluation. Results: When the TS and its components were examined in all age groups and all routines, no significant difference was observed between Group I and Group II in terms of RAE. Conclusion: It is thought that considering the RAE in talent selection and orientation programs, participation in sports activities and performance evaluation may be useful for athletes, coaches, and administrators. Keywords: Rhythmic gymnastics, competition performance scores, relative age effect, gymnast

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 370-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Skorski ◽  
Stefan Skorski ◽  
Oliver Faude ◽  
Daniel Hammes ◽  
Tim Meyer

Purpose:To investigate whether anthropometric profiles and fitness measures vary according to birth-date distribution in the German national youth soccer teams and to analyze whether there is a difference in the chance of becoming a professional soccer player depending on birth quarter (BQ).Methods:First, 554 players were divided into 6 age groups (U16–U21), each subdivided into 4 BQs. Every player performed at least one 30-m sprint, a countermovement jump, and an incremental test to determine individual anaerobic threshold. For players performing more than 1 test within a team, the best 1 was included. Since some players were part of several different teams, a total of 832 data sets from 495 individual soccer players, all born from 1987 to 1995, divided into 6 age categories (U16–U21) were included.Results:Overall, more players were born in BQ1 than in all other BQs (P < .05). No significant difference between BQs could be observed in any anthropometric or performance characteristics (P > .18). Players born in BQ4 were more likely to become professional than those born in BQ1 (odds ratio 3.04, confidence limits 1.53–6.06).Conclusion:A relative age effect exists in elite German youth soccer, but it is not explained by an advantage in anthropometric or performance-related parameters. Younger players selected into national teams have a greater chance to become professionals later in their career.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon J. Roberts ◽  
Lynne M. Boddy ◽  
Stuart J. Fairclough ◽  
Gareth Stratton

The aims of this study were firstly to examine whether there was an observed relative age effect in the cardiorespiratory fitness scores of 9-10 and 11-12 year old children, and secondly whether any observed effect was maintained after controlling for somatic maturity. Cardiorespiratory fitness data from 11,404 children aged 9-10 years and 3,911 children aged 11-12 years were obtained from a large cross-sectional field-based fitness testing program. A one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant relative age effect (p < .01) existed in the 20mSRT scores across all the age groups. Furthermore, ANCOVA analyses identified a statistically significant relative age effect was maintained after controlling for somatic maturation (p < .05). From a public health perspective these results confirm the existence of relative age effects for the first time and consequently may hold implications for relatively younger children in the accurate assessment of their cardiorespiratory fitness scores.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E Garrett ◽  
Patrick W Joyner ◽  
William J Mallon ◽  
Donald T Kirkendall

ABSTRACT The relative age effect (RAE) refers to the oversampling of youth born in the first quarter of the birth year when auditioning for selected age-restricted sports. This advantage conferred to the older athlete is the result of the older athlete being more physically and emotionally mature and, therefore, assumed to be a more advanced player. Chosen players will be exposed to better coaching, competition, teammates, and facilities in their respective sport. This RAE was first described in 1988 for ice hockey, and has since been described in numerous other sports, with a vast majority of the literature demonstrating an RAE in small cohorts, as well as in team sports and sports that incorporate a ball (i.e. soccer, basketball, hockey, etc). We extended the exploration of an RAE beyond specific sports by examining the birth quarter of over 44,000 Olympic athletes birth dates, born between 1964 and 1996. Our hypothesis is that not only did an RAE exist in Olympic athletes, but that it existed across selected categories of athletes (by gender), such as team vs individual sports, winter vs summer athletes, and sports using a ball vs those not using a ball. The fractions of births in the first vs the fourth quarter of the year were significantly different (p < 0.001) from each other for the summer and winter Olympians, ball and nonball sports, and team as well as individual sports. This significant difference was not gender specific. We found the general existence of an RAE in Olympic athletes regardless of global classification. Joyner PW, Mallon WJ, Kirkendall DT, Garrett WE Jr. Relative Age Effect: Beyond the Youth Phenomenon. The Duke Orthop J 2013;3(1):74-79.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1048-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Fukuda

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate relative age effects (RAEs) in elite youth judo athletes from different chronological age groups, between sexes, and across weight categories. Data from 1542 place winners of the cadet (under 17 y, 2009-2013) and junior judo world championships (under 20/21 y, 1990-2013) were separated by birth month into quarters (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4). The observed values were compared with expected annual age distributions using χ2 analyses, and odd ratios (OR) were used to evaluate effect sizes between quarters. The observed frequency of place winners was significantly different from the expected frequency for the age-group and sex comparisons and all body-mass groups (P < .05) with the exception of the extra-light categories (P = .572). When comparing Q1 with Q4 (OR, 95% confidence interval), small effect sizes were observed for cadets (1.72, 1.12-2.66), juniors (1.54, 1.23-1.94), males (1.75, 1.32-2.33), females (1.39, 1.03-1.87), and the light- (1.79, 1.21-2.64) and middle-weight (1.80, 1.20-2.70) categories. RAEs are apparent in cadet and junior judo athletes. Thus, coaches and administrators should consider the potential for physical and/or competitive advantages while adopting strategies that encourage long-term participation in youth judo athletes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina López de Subijana ◽  
Jorge Lorenzo

AbstractThe aims of this study were: i) to analyze whether relative age effect occurs in the athletes of the junior national teams and professional athletes in Spain in general and in soccer and basketball, and ii) to compare the long-term success of the players selected for the junior national team between these sports. The samples for this study were Spanish professional soccer (n = 461) and basketball (n = 250) players in the 2013-2014 premier league and players from the junior Spanish soccer (i.e., n = 273; U-17: n = 107; U-19: n = 166) and basketball (i.e., n = 240; U-18: n = 120, U-16: n = 120) teams that classified to play in the European Championships (from 2004 to 2013). Junior players (42.3%) were more frequently born in the 1st quarter of the year than the professional players (30.7%) (χ2(3) = 30.07; p = .001; Vc = .157). This was found in both basketball (χ2(3) = 12.2.; p = .007; Vc = .158) and soccer (χ2(3) = 20.13; p < .001; Vc = .166). Long-term success is more frequent in soccer, where 59.9% of the juniors selected for the national team played later in the premier league, while in basketball that percentage was 39.6% (χ2(1) = 14.64; p < .001; Vc = .201). On the other hand, 79.4% and 39.8% of the professional soccer and basketball players had been previously selected for junior national teams (χ2(1) = 60.2; p < .001; Vc = .386), respectively. The talent selection process should be reviewed as players born in the second half of the year have fewer opportunities to stand out.


2021 ◽  
pp. 86-89
Author(s):  
Matej Babić ◽  
Dražen Čular ◽  
Igor Jelaska

Aim of this research was to identify and analyse relative age effect (RAE) on sample composed of young Croatian taekwondo competitors. In order with aim of research, for medal winners (n1=72) and other competitors (n2=187) who competed at Croatian taekwondo cadet championship 2015, date of birth, weight category and sport success were extracted. By conducting of Chi-square test on all competitors (n=259) it is proven there is non-significant difference (χ2=12.28; p=0.34) between expected and observed frequencies according to month of birth. Furthermore, significant difference between observed and expected frequencies according to year of birth of medal winners (χ2=45.31; p<0.01) is confirmed. Results of this research are pointing on presence of RAE which could lead to mistakes in selection of young athletes. Authors are suggesting to minimize allowed age range for competition, or to separate competitors in more age categories, which would enable more equal competitions and reduce effect of age on sport success.


Author(s):  
Zsombor Zilinyi ◽  
Ágoston Nagy ◽  
Tamás Sterbenz

"The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has changed its youth competition system in 2004, and due to this regulation, many players had the chance to compete every year at youth level and later, to elevate to the top. The purpose of our study was to inspect those medal-winning European basketball players who competed in the past 19 senior basketball world events. We analysed the tendencies of selection by dissecting the set-up of successful senior national teams. We investigated each one of the 281 European basketball players who won a medal during the analysed period (2000-2019). We collected data from the archive page of FIBA. Our goal was to see whether there was a relation between the youth competition experience and the minutes spent in senior world events. We used the Cramer Association Coefficient, Relative Age Effect and average age were also inspected. We found that participation in the national youth tournaments is important but not the most exclusive factor of selection. There are opportunities for success in the adult national teams for players who have covered alternative sports careers – the factor of national youth experience is not exclusive. We suppose that head coaches utilize older and more experienced players on the Olympic Games, the average ages of successful Olympic medal-winner teams are higher than other world events’ medallists. Despite the fact that we were not able to find statistically proven and associative relationship between national youth recruitment eligibility and the minutes in game spent by successful adult players, further research could be gap fillers in exploring key factors in adulthood efficiency. Keywords: talent selection, competition experience, FIBA, basketball players, sport career."


2019 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Safranyos ◽  
Laura Chittle ◽  
Sean Horton ◽  
Jess C. Dixon

This study examined the moderating effects of academic timing on the relative age effect in men's and women's U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sports) volleyball. Interuniversity sport exists within an academic setting and encompasses different age groups within a single team, making it necessary to account for the academic timing of student athletes when studying the relative age effect. To be considered “on-time,” a student athlete's birthdate and expected athletic eligibility status must coincide, while a “delayed” student athlete will have an athletic eligibility corresponding with a younger cohort. We collected birthdates and eligibility years from the U Sports eligibility certificates of 2,780 male and 3,715 female athletes for the years 2006–2007 through 2013–2014; we then classified athletes as either on-time or delayed. We used a chi-square (χ2) goodness-of-fit tests to compare the observed distributions of student athletes' actual versus “expected” births across each quartile. Our analyses demonstrated an advantage for athletes born in the first half of the selection year. These results suggest that delaying entry into university may help equalize the playing field for relatively younger athletes wishing to compete in U Sports volleyball.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Figueiredo ◽  
André Seabra ◽  
Marta Brito ◽  
Marta Galvão ◽  
João Brito

A better understanding of the relative age effect (RAE) in youth will increase the awareness of the need for reducing the bias of (de)selection. Thus, we investigated the RAE in youth female and male soccer and futsal players in Portugal, using nationwide data. Birthdates of 5,306 female and 126,285 male soccer players, and 2,437 female and 23,988 male futsal players (U7–U19), registered in Portugal during the season 2019–2020, and Portuguese National teams (from U15 to AA soccer teams and from U17 to AA futsal teams) were analyzed. Data were categorized into age groups and certification levels [no certification, basic football training center, football school, and training institution] of the respective clubs/academies. Birthdates were stratified from the start of the selection year using quartiles (Q) and semesters (S). Differences between the observed and expected birthdate distributions were analyzed using chi-square statistics, and RAEs were calculated using odds ratios (OR). In both soccer and futsal, female players, in the age category U9, RAEs were found (Q1 vs. Q4, OR: 1.49 and 1.84, respectively). In male soccer, differences in the birthdate distribution were observed in all age categories (U7–U19) with significant OR between all comparisons (Q and S). In contrast, an over-representation of young male futsal players (Q1 vs. Q4) was observed only in the age categories U7 and U9 (OR: 1.54 and 1.34, respectively). The stratification by certification level showed a significant RAE for all certification levels in male soccer players. In contrast, in male futsal players, the RAE was significant only in clubs and academies with the highest level. For National teams, the RAE was more pronounced in male soccer, particularly in the U16 and U17 (OR: 9.84 and 12.36, respectively). Data showed a RAE in female and male youth soccer and futsal, particularly in male, younger age categories, and in clubs and academies having a higher certification level, which could be accompanied by a loss of valuable elite players during the youth phase of their careers. Thus, adjustments in the systems and structure of talent identification are recommended to prevent RAE-related discrimination in youth soccer and futsal.


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